On 26 September 2022, NASA’s approximately half-tonne Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft impacted the Dimorphos asteroid at an approximate speed of 6.1 km/s, shortening its orbit around Didymos by more than half an hour.
Our Hera spacecraft will be launched this October to reach Dimorphos and perform a close-up ‘crash scene investigation’, gathering data on the asteroid’s mass, structure and make-up to turn this kinetic impact method of planetary defence into a well understood and repeatable technique.
📸 ESA – European Space Agency
📹 ESA/NASA
#ESA #NASA #Hera
